All of these people who call Rockland "upstate nowheresville" and Westchester "hip and bustling" downstate have obviously never been to Rockland. They have just driven through it on the NYS Thruway and pass it off as something it really isn't without actually seeing it. It's culturally no different from the other suburbs, and its no farther away from NYC, so stop badmouthing before you've actually seen it. In addition, Rockland's median household income in 2003 was higher than that of Westchester, Nassau, or Suffolk (7th in the nation), so calling it 2nd class is wrong.

"Hmm let's see I live in Tarrytown, which is in awesome downstate NY. But that Nyack place which is 3 miles due west from here and the same distance from NYC as me is wayyyy upstate. I think it's right next to Canada"
-Doesn't make sense

A suburban county north of NYC. It's no more upstate then Westchester yet people feel the need to bash it as a "wasteland" near Albany in a futile attempt to make their own hometown feel important. Unlike surrounding areas, the people of Rockland are not arrogant and condescending.

I can hop on the Palisades and get to Midtown in 30 minutes from Orangetown, a lot closer than many of you Rockland-bashers from Westchester and LI.

Rockland county is a suburb of NYC. It is neither upstate, nor is it a barren wasteland. Upstate is anything north of the NY/PA line. A lot of Rocklanders live less than 2 min. from NJ, which definitely does not imply "up"state. 15 miles NW of the city? Yup, that's Orangetown. Closer to the city than a lot of places in Westchester.

Rockland County is not upstate. I don't care where you're from. I live closer to the city than most Long Islanders.

Place with big malls, cheap pool halls, and next to Jersey for cheap gas. South end is really part of New Jersey. Mostly rich and white except for Nyack, Spring Valley, and Haverstraw, in which half the town is as hood as School Street or Crown Heights.

Southern most New York county west of the Hudson River. Upstate only to those from one of the five boroughs of NYC or from the far western part of Long Island. Rockland is not overdeveloped as Westchester, and its towns are not mass-produced such as those in Nassau or Suffolk counties.

Rocklander: My house is the yellow one on the left.
guy from Westchester: couldn't afford a house like this in Westchester?
Rocklander: Couldn't find more than a quarter acre of property except near Putnam County or that wasn't already a golf course.
Long Islander: Why are all the houses different? They aren't even all yellow!

For all you uneducated idiots posting on here saying that Rockland has no history or any connections to Manhattan is untrue. People were living in Rockland county before they lived on Long Island. I am from Westchester County, everyone here knows where Rockland is and most likly has family over the "bridge". It is also a known fact that People from Manhattan have a tendency to move North to the counties of Rockland, Westchester in NY and Fairfeild in CT. The only place on long island that even remotely worth speaking of is the Hamptons and the fact that Brooklyn and Queens are on Long Island West end, everything else in between is lower class, ghetto wanna be's. People from BK and the rest of the city think that long island is trashy, ghetto, they have fake accents like they all hail from the city yet they all live 115 miles out in Farimingdale and Hicksville, do you hear these names of towns, yet rockland and or westchester seem to be hickish and upstate...Read a book Rockland has more ties to the city then Long Island wants to admit and thats why everyone hates on Rockland....LOGN ISLAND SHOULD SINK!

If rockland is wack then why was it voted by money magazine and forbes as being one of the most expensive place to live in the US along side all other NYC suburbs? Read a book...